


baisemain

by totaldile



Series: miki's love live prompts and ficlets [10]
Category: Love Live! School Idol Project, Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: F/F, Medieval Fantasy AU, guilty kiss are witches of the same coven, it's also gay as shit, maru is an illegitimate queen suddenly thrust onto the throne
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-02
Updated: 2016-10-02
Packaged: 2018-08-19 02:36:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8186026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/totaldile/pseuds/totaldile
Summary: Baisemain - A kiss on the hand, showing respect.





	

The seat to the throne still felt uncomfortable to her – soft, plush velvet that was meant to be comforting, perhaps, but felt foreign beneath her dress. Not that she was used to the dress, either. The niceties of court life demanded she dress in a way appropriate from someone of her stature, though, so all she could do was stand and accept as Dia ran rings around her, fitting corsets, tightening strings, adjusting collars, and Ruby measured every inch of her body.

“Lady Hanamaru,” called the man whose name and title she still couldn’t remember – but his face was burned in her mind as the one who always called on her when there was something that needed her attention. “You have another visitor from one of the neighbouring villages.”

She didn’t miss the drop in the tone of his voice as he spoke. There was such a measure of distaste for the poor and their kind – ironic, considering that was exactly where she’d come from, before she was plucked from her foster home in the wake of the King’s death and thrust into the position of ruler before she could so much as protest otherwise. Illegitimacy meant nothing to the Court, royalty was royalty. Still, she dearly missed her old home, her old friends, and –

“Ah – bring them in,” she spoke up, voice cracking at the edges. It still felt awkward to give commands instead of respond to them, to have to give permission for anyone to do anything in her presence. Dia gently squeezed her shoulder and Ruby brushed the back of her hand – technically improper contact, but after a tearful confession on the first night she’d spent in the palace, the two had become a fraction more affectionate. Really, she wouldn’t have survived without them.

The man nodded, and opened the doors to reveal a young man clad in traveller’s garments. Short navy hair, a fragile body shape – a beggar, perhaps? Hanamaru cursed the way the thought sprung to her mind as if it were something awful. She’d have liked to have remained herself a little longer, untarnished by the Court’s pride – but, well. Dia had warned her things would be different, that she’d change.

She’d just hoped for the better, is all.

The young man bowed low before her, and she felt that same pain of discomfort that had been festering in her stomach.

“Rise, and speak your mind,” she commanded, just as she’d practised in her bedchambers. Except as he stood, he opened his eyes, and – ah.

The wave of relief that swept over Hanamaru as she realised he was no man was replaced with chilling fear as she realised the implications of her – of Yohane being here, in her Court.

“I am Yoshi, of Shirakawa. We come seeking protection from bandits and witches, and in return, we will pledge our allegiance to you, and I shall offer myself as a Knight,” she said – and perhaps the rest couldn’t tell who she was but Hanamaru would know those eyes anywhere.

She could hear Dia hiss behind her and mutter something about a street rat, the same contempt in her voice as that of the man who’d ushered Yohane in, but – Hanamaru was more concerned about her being here at all. She should have known better than anyone that the Court despised witches more than anything, and she wouldn’t be safe here, she wouldn’t be safe anywhere near Hanamaru, no. Yohane needed to get far, far away, to find Mari and the rest of her coven and live safely, happily, far far away from Hanamaru and –

At some point, she’d extended a hand, as was custom to those who sought her favour, Dia had instructed her, and Yoshiko’s hand reached for it, clasping it softly. The girl in disguise brought her lips to dust the top, gently, then met Hanamaru’s eyes with her own in a crimson plea, don’t tell them don’t react don’t give her away don’t –

“Very well. Your village will be under my protection and shall be subject to my laws. Send a messenger with the news,” she ordered, doing her best not to let her voice squeak or waver or falter even in the slightest, “and show Yoshi to the Knight’s chambers. I expect he will be inducted post-haste.”

The man nodded, bowing curtly before striding off in the direction she presumed was of the Knight’s chambers. Yohane followed behind him, tossing Hanamaru one last glance before she left the room behind him.

Hanamaru shivered as Dia crooned praises for another interaction handled splendidly.


End file.
